I’ve only known a couple of baseball players who have combined a career in professional baseball with cattle ranching. And I’m one of ’em.
So it’s not unusual for someone to come up to me and ask me why baseball and beef? Why do these two disparate pursuits create such passion in me? What in the world do they have in common?
It’s hard to say which came first. When I was 10 years old and playing Little League in Alvin, Texas, I also was buying my first “herd” of three baby calves from a neighbor. I raised them myself; even talking my parents into letting me put them in our garage when a hurricane threatened our home on the Gulf Coast.
You could say I always anticipated being in the cattle business even after I was drafted by baseball out of high school. And I’m glad I achieved that goal. In a sense, ranching served as a diversion from the routine and pressures of baseball by enabling me to spend time in a different area.
I look at it this way:
When some people have a passion for golf, they get up in the morning and get excited and think their day is really special if they get to play 36 holes. I do play golf now and then, but you couldn't whip me and get me to play 36 holes. But, by the same token, I will spend the whole day looking at cattle. So that’s my passion.
Before Ruth and I had children, we’d go visit this older gentleman who had a Beefmaster operation in George West, Texas. I bought bulls from him, so we'd get in his pickup and go look at his cattle after lunch. Forty-five minutes after we started riding around, Ruth would be in the back seat of the truck sound asleep while I couldn’t wait to see more. And we’d ride around for hours.
You are what you do…
What it amounts to is that you get out of something at least equal to what you put into it. That observation is not only based on my personal experience, but also on teammates whom I have watched on a day-to-day basis throughout my baseball career. I saw the ones who were dedicated and worked hard, and then I saw the benefits they received by competing on that level. Other players might have been more talented athletically, but they weren't as committed, and, therefore, they were not as successful.
My philosophy today is that if I take the same work ethic and principles that deliver success, and I apply them in my daily life outside of baseball, then I have a shot at being successful in anything. And so that shot—the opportunity to create a winner—is the answer to what baseball and beef have in common.
Taking Aim at Success
The No-No That Wasn’t Known
Howdy fans! Aren’t the Rangers doing great this year?! Sorry it’s been a while since we updated the blog. I kind of figured that after I became president of the Texas Rangers ball club you might be getting oversaturated with my presence. After all, I’ve been doing so many media interviews across the nation that I dream of microphones in my sleep.
But I changed my mind after taking notice of the no-hitters that are thrilling major league baseball fans this year. They brought to mind something that happened to me back in 1990.
I was with the Rangers then and I’d just pitched my sixth of seven career no-hitters: this one against Oakland. The following day we were off and we flew to Seattle for the next series.
The next morning at breakfast—barely 36 hours after making sports headlines coast-to-coast for pitching a no-hitter—and a stranger comes up to me and says, “It’s Nolan Ryan. What are you doing now, Nolan? Coaching?”
So I know from experience that not everybody keeps up with current events by reading the sports page. And I also realize that if you want to hear about Nolan Ryan’s Beef, you want to come here and not to ESPN.
More on our beef in a moment ...
First of all, it’s great to be closely involved in another pennant race. After I retired as a player, I stayed involved in baseball through ownership of the Round Rock Express and the Corpus Christi Hooks. And I attended major league spring training for the Houston Astros and then the Rangers. But nothing I’ve done in baseball since retiring as a player compares to the 30,000-foot view of the game that I now have as the Rangers’ president.
Our team is playing arguably the best baseball in Rangers history. We’re only at the midway point as this is being written, and there’s a lot of innings still left to play. But it’s shaping up to be an exceptionally exciting year.
The key to the Rangers’ success has little to do with me. It’s a combination of skilled and talented personnel who work hard at perfecting the fundamentals and then put all that skill, talent and practice into play through good teamwork and a good plan.
That’s the real secret to baseball and beef ...
I’m fortunate that we’ve developed that same chemistry with Nolan Ryan’s Beef. I’m deeply involved with the beef side, but I’m also proud that our beef products just continue to get better even while I’m focused on a pennant race.
Just as with the Rangers, our beef team has skill and talent. They work hard every day perfecting the process of bringing you beef that consistently is all-natural and guaranteed tender. These are the fundamental qualities that you’ve told us you demand in beef. It’s been my honor to work with this beef team to develop a solid beef plan that provides you with the highest quality beef products you’ll find anywhere. I’d love to hear what you think about our beef. You can post your comments on Facebook or email us.
Mom's Roast
We get a lot of compliments from customers about how they enjoy cooking our beef products. I enjoy hearing all the comments, but I always have to smile when we get one about how much they like our beef roasts. I can always pretty much tell that person is close to my age and grew up in much the same home environment that I did.
When I was growing up in Alvin, Texas, my brother and sisters and I always knew what our Sunday menu was going to be. It was roast beef although my mother on occasion threw us off and went with chicken instead.
We weren't unique. I guess from after World War II until deep in the 1960s, most American families enjoyed a special meal almost every Sunday usually centered around roast.
That routine had a lasting impact on me. Even today I enjoy a good roast with brown gravy more than any other home-cooked meal. Same thing if I'm eating at someone else's home. I usually get really excited if they cook roast with potatoes, carrots, celery, onions and brown gravy. It's my ideal home meal.
I don't know exactly why a good roast has that effect. I just know those were special days and whenever I eat roast today it just takes me back to when I was a kid growing up. Perhaps it does the same for you. E-mail me with your thoughts on your favorite family meal.
The Ranch Week by Ruth Ryan
Not long after the Christmas day leftovers are all gone, it’s time to head to our South Texas ranch.
We started the ranch tradition when Nolan was playing ball. Professional baseball players are either in training or in competition from late February to late October. Children are in school from August to June. So the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day was the only time when Nolan and our sons, Reid and Reese, and our daughter, Wendy, all had nothing on their schedules at the same time.
Reid, Reese, Wendy and Nolan all enjoy deer hunting. I love being outdoors just as much. So this week became an important part of our life because we all appreciate everything to do with ranching. Today, we are fortunate to be joined in this special week by our children’s spouses and our grandchildren. And it’s not unusual for someone to bring along a friend or two.
When you have a big group for a week doing activities like working cattle or hunting, you need to plan your meals in advance. And we also ask everyone at the ranch to contribute something to the menu so no one person is always in the kitchen.
One of our newest traditions during this week is a great beef and venison chili that Reese makes. Another dish we always look forward to is an excellent tortilla soup that one of my daughters-in-law makes. But most importantly, this week is a great time for anyone with a new recipe to try out. Of the half dozen or so new recipes we sample during the week, we all get great ideas to take home to our own kitchens. If you like cooking, like all of us do, it’s almost like an extended Christmas.
We hope you enjoy these next few days with your loved ones and treasure the time with your family! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
A Special Gift by Ruth Ryan
I’m sometimes asked what has been our most memorable Christmas. That’s a hard one to say because we were a baseball family for 27 years as Nolan traveled around the nation with his team for much of the year. So when it came to Christmas, the best gift anyone received wasn’t wrapped. It was the fact that we all spent time together.
But there is one Christmas that really stands out — and not necessarily for the right reasons. It was when our kids were younger and we were still living in Alvin and Nolan and I decided to really splurge on them.
So we bought 3-wheelers for them to drive around the ranch. I still don’t know what possessed us to do it. I remember looking out the window and seeing the kids zipping down and around the barn, then the house, next over the pastures, then around the house again.
It was an exciting Christmas for the kids to say the least, but it caused me so much worry we retired the 3-wheelers. And from that time to now, we’ve emphasized our special Christmases over our more memorable ones. I’m sure most mothers out there do the same.
Our Christmas Traditions by Ruth Ryan
Merry Christmas, everyone!
This is Ruth Ryan and I’ve asked Nolan for some space on his blog during the Christmas season to answer some questions about our family’s holiday food traditions.
When I think of true traditions, I think about growing up in East Texas. Every Christmas, my mom and dad, Ingrid and Larry Holdorff, celebrated their Scandinavian heritage with food. They invited their relatives, neighbors and fellow church members to our house for snacks and conversation. Their snacks were a smorgasbord of their native foods including smoked herring, pickled beef and Swedish breads.
It wasn’t exactly the menu a young girl growing up in Texas would have chosen. But looking back, it is so wonderful that my parents carried on centuries-old traditions of their ancestors. Another of my family’s traditions took place every Christmas morning. My dad would make Swedish pancakes using cooking techniques that he learned from his Norwegian grandmother. He’d serve them complete with imported lingonberry jelly.
Nolan’s side of the family also had great traditions. His mother, Martha Ryan, was renowned in their home of Alvin, Texas, for the pies she prepared during the holidays. People came from far and wide for a visit and a slice of pecan and pumpkin pie.
Once Nolan and I started our family, we established our family dinner on Christmas eve. Every year, I’ll prepare a beef tenderloin, but sometimes we’ll also serve ham or turkey with all the fixings. For dessert, we enjoy the same pumpkin and pecan recipes that my mother-in-law’s made.
Now that our children have families of their own, the ones who live in the area return to their homes to celebrate Christmas morning. Then everyone comes back to our house later Christmas day. I’m so grateful that several years before my father passed away, our son Reese took the time to learn the Swedish pancakes recipe from his grandfather. Reese makes sure a plate of our traditional breakfast treat still greets family members as they arrive for the Christmas day family brunch.
So what we celebrate today is a blend of what Nolan and I experienced growing up with some additions of our own. We are so fortunate to our children want to carry on in that same spirit. I'll add additional posts this month so tune in for more Ryan family traditions.
The Best Daily Special
Steak is important because it makes ordering off a menu quick and easy. That's something I place a high premium on as much as I travel. And I guess the reason for that goes back to my roots.
When I was a kid, we rarely ate out. Our meals were eaten at home and cooked by my mother. We might go to a restaurant once a year, and when we did it was a big deal. My brother, sisters and I knew that we had to be on our best behavior in public. We didn't dare act up.
I remember the first year I left Texas at 18 after signing to play baseball out of high school. All the sudden I was in Marion, VA, playing minor league ball and having to eat lunch every day at a restaurant. It was a small town and none of the players had a car, so we always walked together down the street to a restaurant. It was your typical small town café with a counter and booths, and all of us gathered there at the same time every day.
I can remember the challenges of deciding what I wanted to eat so I could order. I just never had those kinds of food choices before. At home, when Mom cooked, you ate whatever was put on the table. Now, all of the sudden, I had to select. My solution was usually just to order whatever the daily special was.
It wasn't until I made it into the big leagues in New York in the late 1960s that I began to eat steak regularly when I dined out. In those days, steak restaurants in New York all were named after someone famous, and it was a big deal to go to one of them. But eating steak completed my desire to simplify the process of eating out. I could choose steak time after time without spending a lot of time looking over the menu. It didn't hurt that I also loved steak.
That preference for simplifying the process passed to my children as they grew up and started making their own food choices in restaurants. I really didn't realize that had happened until my young son Reese went on a vacation with some neighbors from Alvin.
They stopped for lunch the first day, and he surprised our friends by ordering steak off the menu! He thought everyone ate steak at a restaurant during lunch because that's the way he'd been raised.
I apologized for not telling him differently, but I couldn't fault Reese. He knew as a kid what I didn't learn until I was an adult: Steak is the best daily special in the world.